UAB, Cigna sign health care contract

UAB Health System and Cigna have announced a two-year network partnership to begin Jan. 1, 2012.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System and Cigna have announced a new network relationship, providing Cigna customers with access to the hospital’s health care services. The contract will be effective Jan. 1, 2012, and will run for a two-year period.

“UAB continues to strengthen our commitment to provide the best health care possible for the people of Alabama,” said UAB Health System CEO Will Ferniany, Ph.D. “We look forward to serving patients who are Cigna customers.”

The contract covers all UAB Health System facilities, which include UAB Hospital, one of the four largest academic hospitals in the United States with the only Level 1 trauma center and Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit in Alabama. Other UAB Health System facilities include The Kirklin Clinic; neighborhood UAB Health Centers located in Inverness, Moody, Hueytown, Hoover, Tuscaloosa, Selma and Huntsville; UAB Callahan Eye Hospital, the country’s only Level 1 eye trauma center; and four affiliated hospitals, to include Medical West, located in Bessemer, and three Baptist Health facilities in Montgomery. UAB specialty centers for excellence include the Spain Rehabilitation Center and Women and Infant's Center.

“We are pleased that we were able to reach a new contract agreement with UAB Health System, reinstating in-network access for our customers to UAB’s facilities,” said Rich Novack, president, Cigna, Mid-South market. “Cigna strives to offer our customers choices through an expansive network of quality hospitals and physicians from which they can seek care.”